cross starts squish.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The internet is the future of regular radio. The radio we know and love disappeared a long time ago. Ages ago, in fact. The internet has slowly started to take over. More people are going to the world wide web to broadcast and showcase their talents along with new music. With no restrictions,  it's easier to be free with content. The content that's missing on terrestrial radio. Humble and Fred did it. And the big boys took notice. I've been doing it since last May. And now, Music nerd God Alan Cross has started it. The local pop culture hero has started Squish. An online radio station backed by Astral Media. Cross wrote about it yesterday. Here's what he had to say...

I'm most grateful to Astral Radio for giving me my own online radio station. After months of planning, this work-in-progress received a soft launch this week. It's called Squish.

Squish aspires to be the best alt-rock station you've ever heard with a mix of music that includes everything from the familiar and classic to the coolest and newest indie stuff. In fact, music discovery is a big part of Squish's mandate.

Here's what's going on.

I was approached by Astral to helm Squish last spring. Putting something like this together is a HUGE issue, not least of which is the acquiring the necessary licensing for all the songs. (It's not as simple as buying a download or ripping a CD. Trust me.)

But we're almost--almost--there.

The station is by no means in its final form. The sound and music mix is still being shaped. There's production, imaging, techincal improvements, segments from me and a lot more music that needs to be added to the system. But it's at least at the stage where it's time to take everything out for a shakedown cruise.

The cool thing about a station like this is that there are no content rules, no worries about bad language and no endless repetition of the same five songs. There's freedom to choose music from all corners of the alt-rock universe. And there are no commercials.

This kind of radio is still in its infancy, so there's a lot of blind guesswork going into what you, the music fan, really want from a such a service. As the adjustments continue, I hope you'll give things a listen and offer suggestions, critiques and feedback.

Ultimately, the programming of Squish is 100% my responsibility, so if you send me a note, you're sending it to the guy in charge. What can we do together to create an absolutely AWESOME alt-rock station?

Seriously. I want to know. My direct email address is alan@alancross.ca

Go here to check out Squish.